Food plate with retaining strap

ABSTRACT

A disposable food plate includes a food-supporting platform bounded by a plate perimeter and having a bottom surface and an opposed top surface configured for the deposit of food items thereon. The food-supporting platform further includes a central portion and a peripheral rim portion inclining radially outwardly from the central portion toward the plate perimeter. A retaining strap having a central strap portion extends between opposed first and second strap ends, which strap ends are secured to the bottom surface of the platform at, respectively, first and second securement regions of the bottom surface such that there exists slack in the central strap portion sufficient to accommodate the introduction of at least two of a user&#39;s fingers between the retaining strap and the bottom surface. The retaining strap is flexible and collapsible such that it can assume a relatively flat profile that enables nested stacking of plural similarly configured plates.

PROVISIONAL PRIORITY CLAIM

Priority based on Provisional Application, Ser. No. 62/044,465 filed Sep. 2, 2014, and entitled “FOOD PLATE WITH RETAINING STRAP” is claimed. Moreover, the entirety of the previous provisional application, including the drawings, is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth fully in the present application.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to lightweight food plates and, more particularly, to disposable or recyclable paper or plastic plates. For purposes of expediency and clarity, all such plates are referred to hereinafter as “disposable,” even if they are in fact recyclable or can be washed and reused.

Disposable plates are typically made from paper, foam, or organic plastics, and are popular because of their low cost, biodegradability, and ease of disposal. Common environments for the use of such plates include picnics, outdoor social gatherings, birthday parties, theme parks. Disposable plates can be purchased for home or commercial use, and are readily available at department, convenience, and grocery stores. Additionally, disposable plates are widely used when selling food from food trucks, hot dog stands, and amusement parks.

A typically configured disposable plate includes a circular body with an outer perimeter. The body includes a top surface recessed relative to the perimeter so as to provide at least some structural rigidity, but primarily to prevent food deposited onto the top surface for sliding beyond the perimeter and off the plate. Although circular plates are typical, the geometries of disposable plates vary and may be oval, square, hexagonal, triangular, or even in the shape of a face, by way of non-limiting example. Broadly defined, “plates” include “bowls” wherein “bowls” are configured such that the top surface for retaining food is more deeply recessed relative to the perimeter than in the case of a “flat plate.” Uniquely shaped designs can provide a competitive advantage depending on the event; plates generally shaped as animal faces are popular for a child birthday parties, for example.

Many disposable plates on the market lack the strength (e.g., rigidity) required to hold them stably from the outer perimeter with food contained on the top surface. This is particularly true when the recess of the top surface is shallow relative to the plate perimeter. That is, the flatter and less “bowl like” the plate is, the less rigid it is likely to be for any particular material and thickness. Attempts have been made to improve disposable plate strength, including the use of thicker materials and/or formed dividers to provide rigidity. These improvements assist in allowing the disposable plate to contain more items or to improve the moisture resistance, and in some cases to keep contents separated from touching other contents. Such plates, while an improvement, are substantially more costly to produce initially and purchase at the retail level.

Because, in general, even better quality disposable plates do not lend themselves to retention in one's hand by grasping the perimeter compared to more robust non-disposable plates, a method most often used to hold a disposable plate is to balance and distribute the lower surface area of the disposable plate on the palm of one's hand. Balancing a disposable plate on the palm of one's hand can easily result in the plate or its contents falling to the ground or floor if the plate, or one holding the plate, is bumped or, if outdoors, experiences a gust of wind.

Accordingly, there exists a need for a disposable plate that facilitates support by, and retention on, the palm of a user's hand when, for example, the person holding the plate is bumped or encounters wind gusts.

SUMMARY

In each of various embodiments, a disposable food plate includes a food-supporting platform (hereinafter, “food platform”) having opposed top and bottom surfaces. The platform is bounded by a plate perimeter which, among other functions, generally defines the geometry of the plate. In a manner similar to a conventionally configured food plate, each of various versions is configured such that a major, central portion of the food platform is substantially planar and recessed relative to the plate perimeter in order to contain food items deposited onto the top surface. A peripheral “rim portion” of the food platform inclines as a function of radius from the central portion toward the plate perimeter.

In order to facilitate retention of the food plate upon a user's palm, a retaining strap is secured at each of two opposed strap ends to respective, mutually displaced securement regions on the bottom surface of the food platform. The retaining strap is secured to the bottom surface such that there exists a predetermined amount of slack in the strap. For instance, in alternative versions, the retaining strap is sufficiently long, and the securement regions sufficiently spaced apart, to facilitate the introduction of two, three or four (i.e., a plurality) of a user's fingers between the strap and the bottom surface of the food platform. Illustrative means of securing the retaining strap to the bottom surface include the use of one or more adhesives, such as glue or double-sided tape, or by fusion through, for example, heating or ultrasonic welding.

The retaining strap can be fabricated from a material similar to that from which the food platform is constructed (e.g., paper and/or plastic), but this need not be the case. In any event, the retaining strap is preferably fabricated from a tear-resistant material. Additionally, the retaining strap is preferably flexible and collapsible so that it can assume a relatively flat profile that enables the stacking of plural similarly configured plates in order to facilitate efficient packaging for shipping and retail sale. More specifically, when two such plates are stacked such that one of them is a lower plate and the other an upper plate, the retaining strap of the upper plate would be collapsed between the bottom surface of the plate (i.e., the upper plate) to which it is secured and the top surface of the lower plate. In cases involving a plurality of food plates of like configuration, each of which has a rim portion that inclines radially toward a plate perimeter, a plurality of such food plates can be stacked in a “nesting” relationship (or “nested”) in which the bottom surface of a first plate extends below the perimeter of a second food plate below or otherwise adjacent to the first plate within the nested stack.

Representative embodiments are more completely described and depicted in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a disposable food plate;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the disposable food plate of FIG. 1 showing a retaining strap secured thereto;

FIG. 3 shows the food plate of FIGS. 1 and 2 with a four fingers of a user's hand introduced between the retaining strap and the plate bottom; and

FIG. 4 is a side view of the plate of FIGS. 1-3 with the fingers of the hand in FIG. 3 still between the retaining strap and the plate bottom, but with the palm turned upward and the plate supported thereon in a food-receiving orientation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description of variously embodied food plates is demonstrative in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or its application of uses. Accordingly, the various implementations, aspects, versions and embodiments described in the summary and detailed description are in the nature of non-limiting examples fading within the scope of the appended claims and do not serve to define the maximum scope of the claims.

With initial reference to the top and bottom views of, respectively, FIGS. 1 and 2, is an illustrative embodiment of a disposable food plate 100 includes a food-supporting platform 110 (alternatively referred to hereinafter as “food platform 110”) having a substantially planar central portion 114 and opposed top and bottom surfaces 120 and 130. The food platform 110 is bounded by a plate perimeter 140 which, among other functions, generally defines the geometry of the food plate 100. A peripheral rim portion is 116 of the food platform 110 inclines radially outward from the central portion 114 toward the plate perimeter 140 such that the central portion 114 is recessed relative to the plate perimeter 140. The radially inclined rim portion 116 assists in containing food items (not shown) supported by the top surface 120, and also provides some structural rigidity to the food plate 100.

Referring specifically to the bottom view of FIG. 2, the food plate 100 includes a retaining strap 170 having central strap portion 172 extending between opposed first and second strap ends 176 and 178. The first and second strap ends 176 and 178 are secured to the bottom surface 130 of the food platform 110 at, respectively, mutually separated first and second securement regions 136 and 138. In order to ensure a predetermined amount of slack in the central strap portion 172, the retaining strap 170 is secured such that the length of strap material between the first and second strap ends 176 and 178 is greater than the distance between the first and second securement regions 136 and 138 on the bottom surface 130 of the food platform 110.

As shown with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, maintaining a degree of slack in the retaining strap 170 permits a plate user to introduce a plurality of his or her fingers into the single loop defined by and between the retaining strap 170 and the bottom surface 130 of the food platform 110. In the particular illustration of FIG. 3, a user has introduced four fingers beneath the strap 170. As shown in the side view of FIG. 4, with a user's fingers disposed between the retaining strap 170 and the bottom surface 130, the retaining strap 170 facilitates retention of the food plate 100 upon a user's palm. Typically, a user's thumb remains to the outside of the region between the strap 170 and the bottom surface 130 of the food plate 100. However, depending on the placement of the securement regions 136 and 138, a portion of the retaining strap 170 may be situated—and even pinched—between a user's thumb and index finger. Although this latter grasp is not depicted, it will be readily understood, and is therefore fairly disclosed, but understanding with reference to FIG. 3 that such a grasp is a matter is of the degree of insertion of the hand between between the retaining strap 130 and the bottom surface 130. Moreover, in a most extreme degree of hand insertion, a portion of the retaining strap 130 is situated behind the rearwardmost knuckles (Le., the knuckles closest the wrist) of the inserted hand.

The foregoing is considered to be illustrative of the principles of the invention. Furthermore, since modifications and changes to various aspects and implementations will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, it is to be understood that the foregoing does not limit the invention as expressed in the appended claims to the exact constructions, implementations and versions shown and described. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A disposable food plate comprising: a food-supporting platform having a bottom surface and an opposed top surface configured for the deposit of food items thereon; and a retaining strap having a central strap portion extending between opposed first and second strap ends, the first and second strap ends being secured to the bottom surface of the platform at, respectively, first and second securement regions of the bottom surface such that there exists a predetermined amount of slack in the central strap portion.
 2. The food plate of claim 1 wherein the food-supporting platform is bounded by a plate perimeter and includes a substantially planar central portion and a peripheral rim portion inclining radially outwardly from the central portion toward the plate perimeter.
 3. The food plate of claim 2 wherein the retaining strap is flexible and collapsible such that it can assume a relatively flat profile that enables nested stacking of plural similarly configured plates.
 4. The food plate of claim 3 wherein the predetermined amount of slack in the central strap portion is sufficient to accommodate to introduction of at least two of a user's fingers in the single loop defined by and between the retaining strap and the bottom surface.
 5. The food plate of claim 1 wherein the predetermined amount of slack in the central strap portion is sufficient to accommodate the introduction of at least two of a user's fingers in the single loop defined by and between the retaining strap and the bottom surface.
 6. A food plate comprising: a food-supporting platform bounded by a plate perimeter and having a bottom surface and an opposed top surface configured for the deposit of food items thereon, the food-supporting platform further including a central portion and a peripheral rim portion inclining radially outwardly from the central portion toward the plate perimeter; and a retaining strap having a central strap portion extending between opposed first and second strap ends, the first and second strap ends being secured to the bottom surface of the platform at, respectively, first and second securement regions of the bottom surface such that there exists slack in the central strap portion sufficient to accommodate the introduction of at least two of a user's fingers between the retaining strap and the bottom surface, the retaining strap furthermore being flexible and collapsible such that it can assume a relatively flat profile that enables nested stacking of plural similarly configured plates.
 7. The food plate of claim 6 wherein the central strap portion is configured with slack sufficient to accommodate to insertion of four of user's fingers in the single loop defined by and between the retaining strap and the bottom surface such that a portion of the retaining strap is situated behind the rearwardmost knuckles of the inserted hand.
 8. The food plate of claim 7 wherein the food plate is disposable.
 9. The food plate of claim 6 wherein the food plate is disposable. 